Job-Seeking Alums and Students Get Help at MC?
Many people are retooling their career plans or postponing retirement. For Mississippi College alumni seeking work or graduating seniors trying to land their first job, MC's Office of Career Services is offering valuable assistance.
Such help during tough times can make the difference between "don't call us, we'll call you," and "how soon can you start?" It can simply be a little friendly encouragement to people to be persistent or to help polish a resume. Assistance can be just a phone call or click away. MC staffers can be the calming voice offering guidance when good jobs are scarce.
One avenue people are turning to is College Central, MC's online job board. It allows current MC students and alumni to match their professional skills and goals with more than 300 local and national employers seeking qualified candidates. College Central lists both full-time and part-time jobs, and allows current students and alumni to conduct job searches by city and state. They can also apply directly to employers online. To take advantage of this new service at MC, go to www.collegecentral.com/mc
and register for a free account.
College Central launched in January 2008. New reports show 370 MC alumni and 1,232 students have registered for this service. The Career Services website also offers practical career building tools for MC alums and current students, including an interview tip sheet, resume writing assistance and a cover letter booklet and much more. One-on-one interview coaching is another way they are getting a leg up during the job search.
Given the current economic jitters, MC is seeing more alums reaching out to their alma mater. They are quickly learning that some of the ways of doing business are different.
"Alums who attended MC a decade ago or even a year ago are discovering that the process for recruiting, interviewing and hiring have changed," said Karen Lindsey-Lloyd, director of MC's Office of Career Services.
Professionals at the Christian university closely follow employment trends. They connect with local and national recruiters "to find out what skills and tips are necessary to land a job, and then pass that information along to our alumni," she said.
Tim Krason, who earned his bachelor's degree in English from MC in 2003 and a master's from the university in 2006 in the same field, credits MC's resume critique and coaching services with his landing a new job. He's now an English instructor at Hinds Community College.
"The practice interview with Karen Lindsey-Lloyd was really helpful," Krason said. "She took very detailed notes and gave me some tips on how to present myself. That experience made me more confident in my interview skills."
Besides the outreach to alums, MC's Office of Career Services is also going all out to help current students. Its Career Day 2009 on Tuesday, February 24 at the B.C. Rogers Student Center will bring more than 50 employers to the Clinton campus to talk with job-hunting students. Rapid resume reviews and interview coaching will also be on the agenda that busy day in Anderson Hall. The largest private university in Mississippi, MC is home to nearly 4,900 students this fall.
For more information about career assistance from Mississippi College, visit www.mc.edu/career. Alumni or current students wishing to schedule an appointment should call 601.925.3901 or 601.925.7717 or reach the office by e-mail at career-services@mc.edu.
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